Follower for filing compartments



u 1951 H. w. REGENHARDT 2,557,915

"FOLLOWER FOR FILING COMPARTMENTS Filed June 29. 1945 IN V EN TOR. HANS W EEGENHAZPDT Patented June 19, 1951 FOLLOWER' 'FOR FILINGCOMPARTMENTS .Hans W. .Regenha dt, Cl

eveland, ..0hio,-;assignor Inc., ,Wooster, .Ohio,-: at corpojApp'lication J 11116 29, 1945, Serial N 602,286

.910laims.

1 This invention relates to followers .forfiling compartments and .thehlike and more particularly. to. adjustable followers adapted: to support .the cards or other material contained in the .;compartments. or drawers of filing cabinets.

.A general. object. of thepresent invention is the. provision ofv an improved assembly of follower and locking device therefor, for filing com- .Qpartments, .which'canbenlocked firmly in any idesired .position and which..can .-be readily-re- ..leased and moved to another position of :ad- .justment. such a followerassembly which can-bamanu- "factured economically. provision .of an assembly ,offollower and locking Another object is v the provision of Another object isthe 'devices'wherein .the locking. device. not only-:holds the follower against, horizontal.,movement ,due tothepressure of the cards or other material in theme, but also bracesuthe followeragainst ".bending by thepressure .of ,the;.-ma terial,1and

further prevents the. follower from fallingwforaward when thepressure of the material is released. A furtherobject is to-providea follower .andlocking assembly whichrcan be --easily.-,installedin affiling compartment. Another. object is .the provision .ofsuch. a .devicegmade, up

of. only two. simple parts-which can.-bemanu- "factured economically from sheet metal.

LjEuztther objects and advantages of my invention will .become apparent from the following description. of a .preferred form thereof. The

-essential,characteristics. are summarized in the claims.

1' Referring to the. drawings, Eigure 1 illustrates afo'llower. block assembly embodying. my. invention installed in ,a compartment such as a drawerofa' card file partsof the compartment "beinglbroken away. for convenience; in illustrationif Figure 2 isa rear elevational view-showing the. assembly of Figure 1,. the view being taken asindicatedby theline 2-2-,-ofFigure 1; Figure. 3-is--.a. transverse sectional view. illustrating the. locking engagement of :the partsrwith the compartment and. taken, along line 3-3 of.Figure 2; and Figure 4 is-a perspective viewof :the locking. device removed. from-- the compartment.

'The .device is .shown asinstalled in a filing compartment indicated in. generalat It) and of more or less conventional construction. The compartment comprises .a-bottom portion H, side Walls l2. and. conventional front and. back end members which are not shown in the-drawings. .Theupperedgesof the.side. -walls [2 are flanged inwardly as at M then' downwardly has at. l 5. providing: inverted channels l 6 extending along the upper edges of the side;port ions J2. 'Iihis construction gives added :strength rand stiffness to. the side'eportions; and as will: appear below, the locking device for the follower 1engages i-the inwardly-extending; flanges, i;- e.;=,Within: the channels. [6.

The follower itself, indicated in generalrat. l1, ispreferably formed of sheet metal andconsists merely-pf a vertical; portion- I9, flanged'aswat 20 aatits upper edge; for stiffness, and; a lower :horizontallyextending I baseportion ;2l which rests on the bottomof the compartment and is a-r-ranged to slidethereon. yFigures" 1 and;:2 show the rearside of the, follower, the substantially smooth front side being adapted to 3 engage-and, support the material within the compartment.

In order to. lock the follower ,-in-any'idesired .position of adjustment and also to support": and brace it against the pressure of'the cards and prevent. it. from falling forward :when' the/pressure of the card is releasedythe lockingqdevice indicated ing-general atv 23 is employed. tThis consistsroftwo endcam orrlocking members: 24!, rounded at. their ends and preferably somewhat elongated and egg-shaped as shown, the-end members @being joined together by the transverseportion 25. 'The end members124 area-dimensioned with-respect to the'depth of the side walls- 52 of the compartments sothat they can be; rocked into wedgingor locking engagement between the base 2 I-0f the follower IT- and the underside of r the flanges i l-within the channels 46. It is .to be .notedthat the-end members ,24 are stepped inwardly as at 26 andilwiththe result that the distance between the lower portions 28, of themembers- 2% is less than the-distance between the top portions 29 thereof. This arrangement permits the top portions. 29--to;-en-

gageawithin the. channels Iii-while the bottom portions. 28 engage the base portion 2| :ofvthe follower. The followeris of less Width" than the distance ..between thedownwardly extending portions-l5 to permit the followerreadily to be. insertedainto andremoved from- :the compartment.

,The wedging and locking; engagementwofsone of the end. cam members 24 is shown- :particularly. in Figure3. Asthe-re illustrated, -the:-.bot,- tom of the rounded-lower :por-tion-ZB engages the-base; 2| -of thefollower at the point-indicated-iby, the reference character30, while, preferably abut not necessarily, a a forward portion thereof engages. the vertical .portion I I9 of:;the follower-as indicated-gent .I At .the :s&mi a imfir the rounded upper portion 29 of the cam member 24 engages within the channel 16 at the top of the side wall i2 as at 32. It will be noted that the distance between the vertical portion IQ of the follower and the point of engagement 32 is greater than the distance between the same vertical portion [9 and the point of engagement 3!). Thus the axis of the cams extends obliquely with respect to the vertical portion, and forces exerted against the follower in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure3 will tend to wedge the portion 24 more firmly into position between the bottom 2| of the follower and the channel l6. At the same time, the engagement at the point 3! supports the vertical portion l9 against bending or rocking movements (in a clockwise direction in Figure 3), and when the pressure of the cards is released, the engagement at the point 30 will prevent the follower block from falling forward (counterclockwise or to the left in Figure 3).

The follower and locking device assembly can be manipulated readily. Thus the follower can be locked in its desired position merely by rocking the upper part of the locking device toward the follower until the upper end portions 29 are wedged in position; the lower portions rolling or sliding with respect to the base and the vertical portion until the upper portion is firmly in engagement with the flanges. For convenience in carrying out this operation and also to strengthen the locking device, the transverse portion 25 is preferably flanged or beaded as at 33, the flanged or beaded portion being readily engaged by the fingers of the user. The follower may be unlocked to be moved to another position of adjustment merely by rocking the locking device away from the follower, i. e., in a clockwise direction in the arrangement shown in the drawings. The

follower may be installed in the compartment .1:

without difficulty because it is narrower than the minimum width of the compartment. The locking device also may be installed easily by positioning it obliquely with respect to the compartment and with the end members 24 with their long axes substantially horizontal, inserting the device into the compartment and adjacent the bottom of the compartment, then moving the device into a position extending across the compartment and adjacent the follower, and finally rotating it into the position such as that shown in the drawings with upper portions 219 of the ends disposed within the channel IE and the lower portions 28 in engagement with the base portion 2! of the follower.

As noted above, the follower itself is preferably a simple sheet metal part which may be produced by very economical bending operations. The locking device is also preferably formed from sheet metal, and as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, it may be formed integrally by cutting out the end portions and the transverse portion from a suitable blank, forming the bead or flange 33 on the transverse portion and the steps of the end portions, and bending the end portions into position at right angles to the transverse portion. Thus the device only requires two extremely simple parts which can be manufactured economically and rapidly by simple stamping, bending or forming operations.

From the foregoing description of a preferred form of my invention, it will be evident that I have provided a simple and effective follower assembly for filing cabinets. My assembly can be manufactured from sheet metal at low cost. My

'4 device can be readily adjusted to any desired position, firmly locked in the desired position and locked or released with little difficulty. The pressure exerted by the cards or other material against the follower increases the efficiency of the locking mechanism, yet the follower may be released by simple rotational movement of the looking device. The locking device not only supports the follower against displacement in a rearward direction, but also supports the follower against bending and prevents it from falling forward when the pressure of the cards is released.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Accordingly, it will be understood that my patent is not limited to the preferred form described herein or in any manner other than by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A follower assembly for a filing compartment having a bottom wall and side walls, at least one of said side walls having an inwardly extending flange disposed above the level of the bottom wall, said assembly comprising a follower having an upwardly extending portion adapted to support material within the compartment and a base extending therefrom and adapted to lie along the upper surface of said bottom wall, and means for locking said follower in position within the compartment comprising a member adapted to be wedged between said inwardly extending flange and the upper surface of said base, and having an intermediate portion adapted to engage and support the upwardly extending portion of said follower.

2. A follower assembly for a filing compartment having a, bottom Wall and side walls, at least one of said side walls having an inwardly extending flange disposed above the level of the bottom wall, said assembly comprising a follower having an upwardly extending portion adapted to support material within the compartment and a base extending therefrom and adapted to lie along the upper surface of said bottom wall, and means for locking said follower in position Within the compartment comprising a thin sheet metal cam member disposed in a generally vertical plane and having rounded ends adapted to be rocked into locking position between said inwardly extending flange and the upper surface of said base, the portion of said member engaging said fiange being laterally offset from the portion thereof engaging said base.

3. A follower assembly for a filing compartment having a bottom wall and side walls, at least one side wall having inwardly extending flanges disposed above the level of the bottom wall, said assembly comprising a follower having an upwardly extending portion adapted to support material within the compartment and a base portion extending therefrom and adapted to lie along the upper surface of said bottom wall, and means for locking said follower in position within the compartment comprising an elongated cam member having rounded ends adapted to be rocked into locking engagement with said inwardly extending flange and said base portion, and having an intermediate portion adapted to engage and support the upwardly extending portion of said follower.

4. A follower assembly for a filing compartment having a bottom wall and side walls provided with inwardly extending flanges disposed above the level of the bottom wall, said assembiy comprising a follower having an upwardly extending portion adapted to support material within the compartment and a base portion extending therefrom and adapted to lie along the upper surface of said bottom wall, and means for locking said follower in position within the compartment comprising an elongated member adapted to be rocked into locking engagement with said inwardly extending flanges and said base portion, said elongated member having at its ends egg-shaped locking members the radius of curvature of which is least where such locking members engage said inwardly extending flanges.

5. A follower assembly for a filing compartment having a bottom wall and oppositely disposed side walls having inwardly extending fianges disposed above the level of the bottom wall, said assembly comprising a follower having an upwardly extending portion adapted to support material within the compartment in front of the follower and a base extending rearwardly therefrom and adapted to lie along the upper surface of said bottom wall, and a unitary device for locking said follower in position within the compartment comprising a transverse connecting portion having cam members at opposite ends thereof, said cam members being adapted to be rocked into locking engagement with said inwardly extending flanges and said base and having intermediate portions adapted to engage and support the upwardly extending portion of said follower.

6. A follower assembly for a filing compartment having a bottom wall and oppositely disposed side walls having inwardly extending flanges disposed above the level of the bottom wall, said assembly comprising a follower having an upwardly extending portion adapted to support material within the compartment in front of the follower and a horizontal portion extending rearwardly therefrom, and a unitary device for locking said follower in position within the compartment comprising a transverse portion having cam members at opposite ends thereof, said cam members being egg-shaped, disposed with the widest portion thereof down, and adapted to be rocked about their widest portions into locking engagement with said inwardly extending flanges.

7. A follower assembly for a filing compartment having a bottom wall and oppositely disposed side walls having inwardly extending flanges disposed above the level of the bottom wall, said assembly comprising a follower hav ing an upwardly extending portion adapted to support material within the compartment in front of the follower and a base extending rearwardly therefrom and adapted to lie along the upper surface of said bottom wall, and a unitary device for locking said follower in position within the compartment comprising a transverse connecting portion having elongated cam members at opposite ends thereof, said cam members being adapted to be rocked into locking engagement with said inwardly extending flanges and said base, the portions of said cam members engaging said flanges being laterally offset from and spaced farther apart than the portions of said cam members engaging said base.

8. A locking device for a filing compartment follower comprising a transverse member having elongated cam members at the ends thereof, said cam members being of greater length than the depth of the transverse member, being disposed substantially at right angles to the transverse member, and having rounded upper portions of relatively short radius of curvature and rounded lower portions of relatively long radius of curvature whereby said cam members may be rocked into locking engagement between a portion of a filing compartment and a portion of a follower therein.

9. A locking device for a filing compartment follower comprising a transverse member having elongated cam members at the ends thereof, said cam members being disposed substantially at right angles to the transverse member, having rounded upper portions of relatively short radius of curvature whereby said cams come into locking engagement with a portion of a filing compartment, and having rounded lower portions of relatively long radius of curvature which are offset inwardly from the upper portions thereof.

HANS w. REGENHARDT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,265,081 Hatfield May 7, 1918 2,166,026 Stroyer July 11, 1939 2,256,351 Regenhardt Sept. 16, 1941 2,281,067 Bergman Apr. 28, 1942 2,364,278 Drebes Dec. 5, 1944 

